Golf: Boulder hires Uhlir to lead boys team, Bishop to coach girls

Uhlir returning to post he held from 1976-2000

BOULDER -- Boulder High athletic director Melissa Warfield needed merely to look to her boys golf team's past to map out its future.

Warfield hired coach Rick Uhlir on Thursday to take over a program he led from 1976-2000, including a state title run in 1982 and numerous top-five finishes at state.

Uhlir's hire came on the same day Warfield hired BHS English teacher Ryan Bishop to lead the girls golf team.

Warfield interviewed seven candidates for some combination of the boys job, girls job or both.

"What I'm happy about is they each got the type of person they wanted for their programs," Warfield said of the search committees for the positions.

Uhlir, who played college golf at Marquette, retired from teaching and coaching at BHS in 2000 to join the European Senior Tour, for which he held a full exemption in 2001 and partial exemption in 2003.

He took a trial run at getting back into coaching last fall, joining the Panthers as an assistant for interim coach Steve Disbrow, BHS' baseball coach.

Former golf coach Jim Kozlowski had been placed on administrative leave just before the season began. He pleaded guilty to charges of indecent exposure and public indecency in December and was prohibited by the court from working with children, leaving BHS to search for a permanent replacement.

Advertisement

Under Disbrow and Uhlir last fall, the Panthers qualified a full squad for state for the first time since 1995 and placed fourth. All four state qualifiers return from that squad next season.

"It was good to see if I could fit it with my schedule," said Uhlir, who is an assistant golf pro at Indian Peaks Golf Course in Lafayette as well as a realtor. "It worked out really well, and it was really a lot of fun getting back involved with the team.

"It's really exciting."

While Uhlir has a few months to prepare for his new gig at BHS, Bishop is under the gun. Spring sports begin practice Feb. 25, with girls golfers starting competition Feb. 28.

Luckily for Bishop, he should be a familiar face for many of his players.

In addition to teaching for five years at BHS, the jack of all trades has served stints as an assistant coach for various Panthers teams, including football, boys basketball and track and field.

Bishop, 31, is a Pomona High grad who played kicker for the Texas Tech football team in college. He replaces Becky Clark, who resigned in December after three seasons to become a club pro at Haystack Mountain Golf Course.

Bishop, who plays in multiple golf tournaments each year, is a self-described student of the game and plans to keep learning as he aims to get the Panthers a state qualifier for the first time since 2010.

Clark will serve as his assistant, and he said he expects to lean on both her and Uhlir for coaching knowledge, as well as Warfield, who is a former BHS assistant.

"My plan is to be a sponge and soak up as much golf knowledge as I can from surrounding coaches and make sure that I'm not the odd man out," Bishop said. "We're going to get the program turned around for sure."